The invention is based on patent application Nos. 10-263069 Pat., 10-263108 Pat., 10-263163 Pat. and 10-263171 Pat. filed in Japan, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet accommodating device for accommodating sheets which are discharged from a sheet processing device such as an image forming apparatus (e.g., a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile or a composite device formed of two or more of them), and also relates to a sheet processing system formed of a combination of such a sheet accommodating device and an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Background Art
A sheet accommodating device for accommodating sheets discharged from a sheet processing device usually has a tray for successively carrying and accommodating the discharged sheets. The tray may be combined with a sheet aligning device, a binding device for binding a plurality of sheets and/or other post-processing device.
In many cases, however, the sheet discharged from the sheet processing device is partially or entirely curled due to an influence such as a heat and a pressure applied thereto from the sheet processing device.
The sheet laid on the tray or the sheet bundle, which is formed of several sheets laid on the tray, may be aligned with a predetermined aligning position together with the next sheet(s) which are discharged onto the sheet or sheet bundle. Further, the sheets thus aligned may be subjected to the post-processing. In these cases, the overlaid sheet(s) cannot be stable, and thus cannot be processed (e.g., aligned) in an intended manner if the underlying sheet or sheet bundle on the tray is curled. The aligning and other processing cannot be easily performed if the overlaid sheet to be processed is curled.
The sheet accommodating device is usually provided with a sheet accommodating portion for accommodating the discharged sheets. The accommodating portion(s) is usually one in number, but a second sheet accommodating portion may be additionally provided in some cases.
The second accommodating portion may be, for example, a sheet accommodating portion which is referred to as a xe2x80x9cmail binxe2x80x9d and is provided with a plurality of bins for accommodating the sheets discharged from the sheet processing device in the intended bins corresponding to destinations or the like.
In the sheet accommodating device which is provided with the plurality of sheet accommodating portions, a plurality of complicated transporting paths are required for leading the sheets discharged from the sheet processing device to the respective sheet accommodating portions, respectively. Due to the complicated structure, sheet jamming which impedes the sheet accommodation is liable to occur. Further, these several transportation paths require a large space, and therefore increase the size of the sheet accommodating device.
As described above, the sheet accommodating device suffers from the foregoing problems in connection with smooth and appropriate accommodation of the sheets.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a sheet accommodating device which can smoothly accommodate sheets discharged from a sheet processing device in a satisfactory state, compared with conventional sheet accommodating devices.
Another object of the invention is to provide a sheet accommodating device which can smoothly carry and accommodate sheets discharged from a sheet processing device in an aligned fashion.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a sheet accommodating device which can smoothly and accurately align sheets discharged from a sheet processing device while suppressing an influence by curling of the sheets.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a sheet accommodating device which can smoothly and accurately align sheets discharged from a sheet processing device while suppressing an influence by curling of the sheets already discharged and accommodated.
Further another object of the invention is to provide a sheet accommodating device which can smoothly and accurately align sheets discharged from a sheet processing device while suppressing an influence by curling of the sheets already discharged and accommodated, and can efficiently accommodate the sheets.
A further object of the invention is to provide a sheet accommodating device which can smoothly and accurately align sheets discharged from a sheet processing device while suppressing an influence by curling of the sheets already discharged and accommodated, and does not require particular increase in size of the whole structure.
A further object of the invention is to provide a sheet accommodating device, which can smoothly and appropriately accommodate sheets discharged from a sheet processing device in a plurality of sheet accommodating portions, but can be entirely formed of a relatively small and compact structure.
A further object of the invention is to provide a sheet processing system which is formed of an image forming apparatus and a sheet accommodating device for accommodating the sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus, and can smoothly and appropriately accommodate the sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus.
The invention provides the following sheet accommodating devices.
(1) First Sheet Accommodating Device
A sheet accommodating device including:
a processing tray movable between a receiving position for receiving a discharged sheet and an escape position, the sheet being aligned in the receiving position;
a carrying tray for carrying a sheet or sheet bundle moved by its own weight as a result of retreating of the processing tray to the escape position;
a detector for detecting a vertical position of an upper surface of the uppermost sheet on the carrying tray; and
a tray position adjusting device for adjusting the vertical position of the carrying tray based on a result of detection by the detector such that the processing tray comes into contact with and pushes the sheet or sheet bundle on the carrying tray when the processing tray is in the receiving position.
(2) Second Sheet Accommodating Device
A sheet accommodating device including:
a processing tray movable between a receiving position for receiving a discharged sheet and an escape position, the sheet being aligned in the receiving position;
a carrying tray for carrying a sheet or sheet bundle moved by its own weight as a result of retreating of the processing tray to the escape position; and
a pushing member for pushing a rear end, in the sheet discharging direction, of the sheet or sheet bundle toward the carrying tray when the sheet or sheet bundle on the processing tray is moved to the carrying tray as a result of retreating of the processing tray.
(3) Third Sheet Accommodating Device
A sheet accommodating device including:
a sheet-laid tray for laying a discharged sheet thereon;
a transporting and aligning device for moving the sheet laid on the sheet-laid tray to an alignment reference position; and
a sheet pushing device including a pushing member for pushing a rear end, in the sheet discharging direction, of the sheet on the sheet-laid tray toward the sheet-laid tray, the pushing member being movable between a sheet pushing position and an escape position.
(4) Fourth Sheet Accommodating Device
A sheet accommodating device including:
a processing tray movable between a receiving position for receiving a discharged sheet and an escape position, the sheet being aligned in the receiving position; and
a carrying tray for carrying a sheet or sheet bundle moved by its own weight as a result of retreating of the processing tray to the escape position,
the processing tray being formed of a first tray supporting a sheet leading portion in the sheet discharging direction, and a second tray supporting a sheet rear portion.
(5) Fifth Sheet Accommodating Device
A sheet accommodating device including:
a processing tray movable between a receiving position for receiving a sheet and an escape position, the sheet being aligned in the receiving position; and
a carrying tray for carrying a sheet or sheet bundle moved by its own weight as a result of retreating of the processing tray to the escape position,
the processing tray being configured to retreat preliminarily a predetermined amount within a range allowing post-processing to be effected on a plurality of sheets after receiving the sheets in the receiving position, and then retreat to the escape position.
(6) Sixth Sheet Accommodating Device
A sheet accommodating device including:
a processing tray movable between a receiving position for receiving a sheet and an escape position, the sheet being aligned in the receiving position; and
a carrying tray for carrying a sheet or sheet bundle moved by its own weight as a result of retreating of the processing tray to the escape position,
the processing tray including a first tray formed of a plurality of divided trays, the plurality of divided trays escaped in the escape position being accommodated in a layered fashion.
(7) Seventh Sheet Accommodating Device
A sheet accommodating device including:
a processing tray movable between a receiving position for receiving a sheet and an escape position, the sheet being aligned in the receiving position;
a carrying tray for carrying a sheet or sheet bundle moved by its own weight as a result of retreating of the processing tray to the escape position; and
controller for raising the carrying tray to a sheet carrying position when the processing tray is in the sheet receiving position, and lowering the carrying tray to a lower escape position after the processing tray escaped to the escape position.
(8) Eighth Sheet Accommodating Device
A sheet accommodating device including:
a processing tray movable between a receiving position for receiving a sheet and an escape position, the sheet being aligned in the receiving position;
a carrying tray for carrying a sheet or sheet bundle moved by its own weight as a result of retreating of the processing tray to the escape position; and
a sheet edge moving device for moving one edge of the sheet in a carrying direction on the carrying tray.
(9) Ninth Sheet Accommodating Device
A sheet accommodating device including:
a processing tray movable between a receiving position for receiving a sheet and an escape position, the sheet being aligned in the receiving position;
a carrying tray for carrying a sheet or sheet bundle moved by its own weight as a result of retreating of the processing tray to the escape position;
a first alignment reference surface for one edge of the sheet on the processing tray; and
a second alignment reference surface for the same edge of the sheet on the carrying tray,
the second alignment reference surface being shifted upstream in the sheet discharging direction from the first alignment reference surface.
(10) Tenth Sheet Accommodating Device
A sheet accommodating device including:
a processing tray movable between a receiving position for receiving a sheet and an escape position, the sheet being aligned in the receiving position; and
a carrying tray for carrying a sheet or sheet bundle moved by its own weight as a result of retreating of the processing tray to the escape position,
the carrying tray being configured to increase a distance between the carrying tray and the processing tray as the position moves downstream in the sheet discharging direction.
(11) Eleventh Sheet Accommodating Device
A sheet accommodating device including:
a processing tray movable between a receiving position for receiving a discharged sheet and an escape position, the sheet being aligned in the receiving position;
a carrying tray for carrying a sheet or sheet bundle moved by its own weight as a result of retreating of the processing tray to the escape position;
a sheet accommodating unit for accommodating the sheet;
a first transporting path for transporting the discharged sheet to the processing tray; and
a second transporting path for transporting the discharged sheet to the accommodating unit,
the second transporting path extending through an escape region of the processing tray.
Various features of the sheet accommodating devices described above may be appropriately employed in combination unless a particular disadvantage occurs.
Any one of the foregoing sheet accommodating devices may be combined with an image forming apparatus including an image forming unit forming an image on the sheet as well as a discharging portion for discharging the sheet bearing the image thus formed, and thereby may be used as a device for accommodating the sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus. The structures thus combined form a sheet processing system.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.